Maurice Trintignant
|birthplace = Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes, Vaucluse, France |death date = |placeofdeath =Nimes, Gard, France |nationality = |status =Deceased |firstrace =1950 Monaco Grand Prix |firstwin =1955 Monaco Grand Prix |lastrace =1964 Italian Grand Prix |lastwin = 1958 Monaco Grand Prix }} Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant ( ; born October 30, 1917 in Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes, Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur – died February 13, 2005 in Nîmes, Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon, France), nicknamed "les Petoulet", was a French racing driver who competed for 15 seasons from the second ever F1 race in 1950 to the 1964 Italian Grand Prix, a total of 84 races. During this time, Trintignant achieved two race victories, both at Monaco, and 10 podium finishes. Son of a wealthy vineyard owner, Maurice was the youngest of five boys and was lured into Motor Racing despite the death of his brother Louis at Peronne in 1933. He was chosen in 1939 to join the Bugatti team, the same team his brother drove for when he was killed. After being pronounced dead himself in 1948 after a serious accident, Maurice went on to score World Championship points in the little Simca-Gordini before factory drives at Ferrari and Vanwall followed. Trintignant's greatest successes are the two F1 World Championship wins he achieved win the Ferrari at Monaco, 1955 and in 1958 with the Rob Walker Cooper at the same circuit. He is also a Le Mans 24 Hour winner, sharing the winning Ferrari in 1954. Before Formula 1 World Championship Maurice started racing in 1939, taking 5th place at the Pau Grand Prix and winning the GP des Frontieres before the out-brake of the war. In the first race after the war, Maurice took his trusty Bugatti but it retired with Fuel Starvation, the diagnosis of his car revealed this had been caused by "les petoules" left in hos tank during its time of inaction during the war. From then on, Maurice was given the nickname "les Petoulet" which he accepted in fine spirit, the translation of this is "rats dropping". 1947 was a transitional year for "les Petoulet", replacing his Bugatti with an Amilcar and winning at Avignon, he also spent half the year driving for the Gersac team in their Delage before moving to the Simca-Gordini team. In 1948 he won races early on for his new team but at the 1948 Swiss Grand Prix, a tragic race that saw the death of three drivers, Maurice also suffered a serious accident where he spun his car and was thrown out onto the track where he lay unconscious with Nino Farina, Prince Bira and Robert Manzon swerved to avoid his body causing their retirements. For 8 days Maurice lay in a coma and was pronounced dead but his pulse slowly returned. Suffering no ill effects of the accident, "les Petoulet" returned to racing at the start on 1949 with Simca-Gordini winning in Anglouleme. Formula One Career 1950 In 1950, "les Petoulet" remained at the team and took the little blue car to victory at the non-championship Geneva race but would only enter two World Championship events, at Monaco, where he would be involved in a multi-car pile-up and Monza where he would suffer car problems. In contrast his teammate Robert Manzon would race additionaly at Reims in the French Grand Prix and secure 3 World Championship points. Formula One Statistical Overview Formula One Record Career Statistics Race Wins Career Results ||||| |0|NC}} ||| || | | |0|NC}} ||| | | |6th| |2|21st}} | | | | | |4|11th}} || | | | | | | |17|4th}} Shared drive with José Froilán González and Guiseppe Farina '3rd'Shared drive with Guiseppe Farina and Umberto Maglioli| ||6th| | |8th|11.33|4th}} || | | || |0|NC}} || | Shared drive with Peter Collins||||5|13th}} |9th||7th| |8th| |8th| | |12|7th}} ||8th|11th| | | |9th| |19|5th}} || || |11th|||15th|0|NC}} |13th|| |9th||0|NC}} | |8th|7th|| | | ||0|NC}} |||8th|||9th||||0|NC}} |||11th| | | | |||2|17th}} Category:French Drivers Category:1917 births Category:2005 deaths Category:1950 Début Drivers Category:Simca Drivers Category:Ferrari Drivers Category:Vanwall Drivers Category:Bugatti Drivers Category:Cooper Drivers Category:Maserati Drivers Category:BRM Drivers Category:Aston Martin Drivers Category:Team Lotus Drivers Category:Lola Drivers Category:Maurice Trintignant